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SEOUL - SOUTH KOREA'S economy faces problems as severe as during the Asian financial crisis a decade ago even though exports remain strong, the finance minister said on Tuesday.
'Apart from exports, everything, including investment, consumption, employment and the current account balance, is showing a trend similar to that seen during the International Monetary Fund (era),' Mr Kang Man Soo told parliament.
The IMF made its biggest ever bailout of US$57 billion (S$76.98 billion) to help rescue South Korea from state bankruptcy in 1997.
Mr Kang's dire warning was his second this month. On July 10 he said the economy was heading towards a crisis.
'There are few favourable trends found in any corner of our economy,' he told reporters at the time.
'At this moment, we can't say that the economy is in crisis, but the overall circumstances are showing that it is heading toward it.' The country, the world's fifth largest crude importer, has been hit hard by rising oil prices with annual inflation at 5.5 per cent in June, near a 10-year high.
The current account balance stayed in the red for a sixth straight month in May due to rising prices of oil and other commodities.
However, the finance ministry still predicts growth of 4.7 per cent this year.
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